Fantasy Football: Week 6 Sunday Sleeper Squad
The Sunday Sleeper Squad is a team made up of players that might be hanging around on waivers and can offer you a helping hand this week if you’re a team in need. And at this point of the season, you are probably in need of some kind of fantasy help. These factors could be matchup, injuries, both or something totally off the wall leading us to our conclusion as to why these players could pay off. Of course, these are the ultimate boom-or-bust plays so may the odds be in your favor if you’re playing someone on this list. Let’s take a look at who made my Week 6 Sunday Sleeper Squad.
QB/ Matthew Stafford/ Detroit Lions: Let’s be honest the Jaguars are a tremendous matchup and we’d be fooling ourselves if we didn’t think Stafford was capable of a big fantasy day. This game comes with a fairly attractive over/under which opened at 52.5 so a high scoring affair is possible. The Jaguars give up TDs and yards to QBs at an alarming rate. While Stafford isn’t known for his road performances but he is coming off a bye and Kenny Golladay should be fully healthy. When Golladay has been healthy Stafford has played in the QB1 range. So far Jacksonville has given up the 8th most fantasy points to QBs this season.
WR/ Travis Fulgham/ Philadelphia Eagles: In somewhat of a contrarian play, Fulgham Face is what many consider to be a tough Baltimore defense. While it is a tough matchup it is still a matchup that you can produce in. Brandin Cooks, Terry McLaurin, Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman have all produced solid fantasy outings. Over the last 2 weeks, Fulgham has 16 targets for 12 catches and 209 yards with 2 scores. He and Carson Wentz have developed a nice connection and it’s another week of no Alshon Jeffery or DeSean Jackson should mean a solid volume day for Fulgham.
WR/ Christian Kirk/ Arizona Cardinals: Featured as the Flex of the Week, Kirk draws an ideal matchup with the Dallas Cowboys and more specifically Trevon Diggs. Over his first 5 games in the league, Diggs has allowed 23-of-36 passing for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kirk has seen 12 targets over the last 2 games and has seen 5 targets in 3 of the last 4 games.
WR/ Keelan Cole/ Jacksonville Jaguars: DJ Chark isn’t going to play most likely. Laviska Shenault has a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice on Wednesday. Knowing that we can expect Cole to scoop up some of those targets; as the last time we saw Chris Conley it was uneventful at best. Also, Detroit gives up a ton of passing TDs at least 2 in every game this season. Cole is quietly on pace to score 10 TDs this season. Gardner Minshew likes him when the team is at full strength, so he’ll love him in this situation.
RB/ D’Andre Swift/ Detroit Lions: In what is expected to be a shootout potentially and Adrian Peterson having been sidelined with an illness this week, but Peterson is expected to play, all signs point to Swift seeing an uptick in usage. Especially having the bye to get him some more practice reps and give him an expanded workload this week. Swift has a good matchup even though the jaguars have been tough against RBs they are dealing with injuries that should make a difference. I figure Swift could see 12+ touches this week. In a high scoring game, his pass-catching skills become of the utmost importance.
RB/ JD McKissic/ Washington Football Team: In the last 2 weeks he has seen 16 targets; 8 in each week. While the results have been fairly pedestrian that sort of usage can make for a nice play in PPR formats. McKissic consistently sees 8 touches a game and with any luck might be able to sneak in another sneaky yet solid performance against the Giants. The Giants are allowing 9 yards per catch to the RB position.
TE/ Irv Smith Jr/ Minnesota Vikings: He is coming off his best performance all season and this week draws the Falcons which are one of the most friendly matchups a TE could ask for. Last week Smith played just under 70% of snaps and ran 31 routes. He had 5 targets for 4 catches and 64 yards. The Falcons have given up 7 TDs to TEs this season. This has all the makings for a smash spot for Irv Smith Jr. A defense that struggles against the TE for a team that just figures out how to use their TE, yes please, sign me up.
FLEX/ Mecole Hardman/ Kansas City Chiefs: Sammy Watkins is out and the Buffalo pass defense is nothing to be scared of. They’ve allowed 9 TDs in their last 4 games. In three career games without Watkins, Hardman is averaging over 10 fantasy PPG. But his upside is clearly much higher than that. Hardman has scored a TD in two straight games.
FLEX/ Duke Johnson/ Houston Texans: This one is if you like to roll the dice. Romeo Crennel stated that more work might be in the future for Duke Johnson. Johnson is widely viewed as an underutilized player and this might be the situation Johnson needs. David Johnson has looked decent so far this season and is a skilled pass catcher but if he doesn’t show some serious signs of consistent life it might be time for Duke to get his shot as the lead dog. But for this week, if you’re desperate and want to trust some coach speak here you go.
